Chicago Staleys (later the Chicago Bears) win the 1921 American Professional Football Association title, albeit not without dispute. The APFA will eventually become the National Football League.
Rose Bowl (1920 season):
The California Golden Bears won 21-0 over the Ohio State Buckeyes to win the college football national championship
Cornell Big Red – college football national championship
8 October — the first radio broadcast of a college game takes place between West Virginia and Pittsburgh
Brazil
Cruzeiro of Belo Horizonte, officially founded on January 2.
England
The Football League – Burnley 59 points, Manchester City 54, Bolton Wanderers 52, Liverpool 51, Newcastle United 50, Tottenham Hotspur 47
FA Cup final – Tottenham Hotspur 1–0 Wolverhampton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge, London
The Football League is expanded by the conversion of the Third Division (founded in 1920) into the Third Division South (D3S: 22 clubs) and the creation of the Third Division North (D3N: 20 clubs). This brings the total number of League clubs to 86. Existing league clubs in D3N are Stockport County (relegated from the Second Division) and Grimsby Town (transferred from the former Third Division). New league members in D3N are: Accrington Stanley (1921–1961), Ashington (1921–1929), Barrow (1921–1972), Chesterfield, Crewe Alexandra, Darlington, Durham City (1921–1928), Halifax Town, Hartlepool United, Lincoln City, Nelson (1921–1931), Rochdale, Southport (1921–1978), Stalybridge Celtic (1921–1923), Tranmere Rovers, Walsall, Wigan Borough (1921–1931) and Wrexham.
Apart from Grimsby Town (now in D3N) and Crystal Palace (promoted to the Second Division), all the remaining members of the former Third Division are transferred to D3S. Two new clubs are elected to this division: Aberdare Athletic (1921–1927) and Charlton Athletic.
Germany
National Championship – FC Nuremberg 5–0 Berliner FC Vorwärts 1890 at Düsseldorf
Republic of Ireland
Formation of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI). It applies solely to the Republic of Ireland and is not to be confused with the Irish Football Association (IFA), which is now the organising body for football in Northern Ireland only. The split in Irish football governance is not reflected in other sports such as cricket and rugby union, in which Cricket Ireland and the Irish Rugby Football Union administer both countries.
Men's 100 metres
Charlie Paddock (USA) breaks the world record by running a time of 10.4 at Redlands, California.
Lithuania
Officially established Lithuanian Athletics Championships.
Monaco
first Women’s Olympiad in Monte Carlo
30 June – North Melbourne disbands in an attempt to merge with VFL club Essendon and is disqualified from the rest of the VFA season; the merger is precluded by a veto by the government of Essendon moving to Arden Street.
VFL Premiership
Richmond wins the 25th VFL Premiership, defeating Carlton 5.6 (36) to 4.8 (32) in the Grand Final
South Australian Football League
7 May – Glenelg become the SAFL’s eighth club when they play their first match against West Adelaide, losing 6.5 (41) to 18.10 (118).
8 October – Port Adelaide 4.8 (32) defeat Norwood 3.6 (24) for their ninth SAFL premiership.
Magarey Medal won by Dan Moriarty (South Adelaide), Charlie Adams (Port Adelaide), John Karney (West Torrens) and Walter Scott (Norwood)
West Australian Football League
1 October – East Perth 5.9 (39) defeats East Fremantle 4.8 (32) to win its third consecutive premiership.
The inaugural Sandover Medal is won by Tom Outridge, Sr. (Subiaco), and posthumously awarded retrospectively to Cyril Hoft (Perth).
Bandy
Sweden
Championship final – IK Sirius 5–2 IFK Uppsala (replay following 2–2 draw)
World Series
5–13 October — New York Giants (NL) defeats New York Yankees (AL) to win the 1921 World Series by 5 games to 3
Major League Baseball
Babe Ruth hits 59 home runs for the New York Yankees, establishing a new single-season record for the third consecutive year
Negro League Baseball
The Chicago American Giants win their second consecutive Negro National League pennant
Events
2 July — boxing’s first “million dollar gate” occurs when Jack Dempsey meets Georges Carpentier in a “hastily assembled outdoor arena built on a farm in Jersey City, New Jersey”. A crowd of more than 80,000 attends an event billed by its promoter Tex Rickard as the "Battle of the Century". Dempsey wins by a fourth round knockout in a scheduled 12-round fight which is also special for its radio broadcast. It is the first-ever broadcast to a "mass audience" with ringside commentary relayed over the new radiophone to hundreds of thousands of people in the northeastern United States.
Pete “Kid” Herman regains the World Bantamweight Championship but is beaten soon afterwards by new champion Johnny Buff.
Lineal world champions
World Heavyweight Championship – Jack Dempsey
World Light Heavyweight Championship – Georges Carpentier
World Middleweight Championship – Johnny Wilson
World Welterweight Championship – Jack Britton
World Lightweight Championship – Benny Leonard
World Featherweight Championship – Johnny Kilbane
World Bantamweight Championship – Joe Lynch → Pete "Kid" Herman → Johnny Buff
World Flyweight Championship – Jimmy Wilde
Grey Cup
9th Grey Cup in the Canadian Football League – Toronto Argonauts 23–0 Edmonton Eskimos
Events
England tours Australia and becomes the first team to lose every match in a five-match Test series. In the 1921 English season, Australia emphasises the post-war superiority that it owes, in particular, to the pace duo of Jack Gregory and Ted McDonald. Having won 5–0 in Australia the previous winter, the Australians win the first three Tests of the 1921 tour and then draw the last two.
England
County Championship – Middlesex
Minor Counties Championship – Staffordshire
Most runs – Phil Mead 3179 @ 69.10 (HS 280*)
Most wickets – Alec Kennedy 186 @ 21.55 (BB 8–11)
Wisden Cricketers of the Year – Hubert Ashton, Jack Bryan, Jack Gregory, Charlie Macartney, Ted McDonald
Australia
Sheffield Shield – New South Wales
Most runs – Patsy Hendren 1178 @ 62.00 (HS 271)
Most wickets – Arthur Mailey 81 @ 22.53 (BB 9–121)
India
Bombay Quadrangular – Hindus and Parsees (shared)
New Zealand
Plunket Shield – Wellington
South Africa
Currie Cup – Western Province
West Indies
Inter-Colonial Tournament – unfinished
Tour de France
Léon Scieur (Belgium) wins the 15th Tour de France
Giro d'Italia
Giovanni Brunero of Legnano wins the ninth Giro d'Italia
World Figure Skating Championships
The championships are not held in 1921
Major tournaments
British Open – Jock Hutchison
US Open – Jim Barnes
USPGA Championship – Walter Hagen
Other tournaments
British Amateur – Willie Hunter
US Amateur – Jesse P. Guilford
England
Grand National – Shaun Spadah
1,000 Guineas Stakes – Bettina
2,000 Guineas Stakes – Craig an Eran
Epsom Derby – Humorist
Epsom Oaks – Love in Idleness
St. Leger Stakes – Polemarch
Australia
Melbourne Cup – Sister Olive
Canada
Queen's Plate – Herendesy
France
Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe – Ksar
Ireland
Irish Grand National – Bohernore
Irish Derby Stakes – Ballyheron
USA
Kentucky Derby – Behave Yourself
Preakness Stakes – Broomspun
Belmont Stakes – Grey Lag
Stanley Cup
Ottawa Senators defeats Toronto St. Patricks to win the NHL championship.
Vancouver Millionaires defeats Seattle Metropolitans in a two–game total–goal series 1–3, 6–0 (7–3) to win the PCHA championship.
21 March – 4 April — Ottawa Senators defeats Vancouver Millionaires in the 1921 Stanley Cup Finals by 3 games to 2
Grand Prix racing
25 July — the 7th French Grand Prix, organised by the Automobile Club de France (ACF), is run at Le Mans over 752.58 km (37.629 km x 20 laps) on the Circuit de la Sarthe. The winner is Jimmy Murphy (USA) driving a Duesenberg in 4:07:11.4. The race is retrospectively referred to as the XV Grand Prix de l´ACF.
4 September — the inaugural Italian Grand Prix is run at Brescia over 519.0 km (17.3 km x 30 laps). The winner is Jules Goux (France) driving a Ballot 3L in 3:35:09. The race is officially titled the I Gran Premio d'Italia.
Indianapolis 500
30 May — 9th running of the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is won by Tommy Milton (USA) in a Frontenac.
Far Eastern Championship Games
Fifth Far Eastern Championship Games held in Shanghai.
Women's World Games
The 1921 Women's Olympiad begins in Monte Carlo, first international women's sports event
The Boat Race
30 March — Cambridge wins the 73rd Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race
England
Championship – Hull
Challenge Cup final – Leigh 13–0 Halifax at Wheater's Field, Broughton
Lancashire League Championship – Wigan
Yorkshire League Championship – Halifax
Lancashire Cup – Broughton Rangers 6–3 Leigh
Yorkshire Cup – Hull Kingston Rovers 2–0 Hull
Australia
NSW Premiership – North Sydney (outright winner)
Five Nations Championship
34th Five Nations Championship series is won by England who complete the Grand Slam
Germany
National championship won by Mr. Janich firing an Ortgies semi-automatic pistol.
Speed Skating World Championships
not contested
Australia
Australian Men's Singles Championship – Rhys Gemmell (Australia) defeats Alf Hedeman (Australia) 7–5 6–1 6–4
England
Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship – Bill Tilden (USA) defeats Brian Norton (South Africa) 4–6 2–6 6–1 6–0 7–5
Wimbledon Women's Singles Championship – Suzanne Lenglen (France) defeats Elizabeth Ryan (USA) 6–2, 6–0
France
French Men's Singles Championship – Jean Samazeuilh (France) defeats André Gobert (France) 6–3 6–3 2–6 7–5
French Women's Singles Championship – Suzanne Lenglen (France) defeats Germaine Golding (France) by a walkover
USA
American Men's Singles Championship – Bill Tilden (USA) defeats Bill Johnston (USA) 6–1 1–6 7–5 5–7 6–3
American Women's Singles Championship – Molla Bjurstedt Mallory (Norway) defeats Mary Browne (USA) 4–6 6–4 6–2
Davis Cup
1921 International Lawn Tennis Challenge – United States 5–0 Japan at West Side Tennis Club (grass) New York City, United States
